BYU still at No. 7 in AP poll, USU falls to No. 25

In this Feb. 9, 2011 file photo, BYU's Brock Zylstra drives to the basket between Air Force's Zach Bohannon, left, and Taylor Stewart during the second half of a game at Air Force Academy, Colo. BYU beat Air Force 90-52.

San Diego State and BYU, meanwhile, held steady at the No. 6 and 7 spots. Utah State fell from No. 21 to No. 25 after losing to Idaho last week.

After Ohio States first defeat, the one-loss Jayhawks moved up from No. 2 on Monday to the top spot in The Associated Press college basketball poll, a familiar place for Bill Selfs program.

When they beat Iowa State on Saturday, a couple of hours after the Buckeyes lost at Wisconsin, the Jayhawks were ready to ascend.

I want to be No. 1. I was waiting for somebody to ask me, said Morris, Kansas leading scorer.

The Jayhawks (24-1, 9-1 Big 12) were ranked No. 1 for 15 weeks last season but lost to Northern Iowa in the second round of the NCAA tournament.

Its great in February to be ranked this high, but we know in order to stay up there and have a chance to do what we hope to do, weve got to keep trying to get better, Self said.

Kansas received 22 first-place votes from the 65-member national media panel, while Ohio State received 14 first-place votes and trailed the Jayhawks by only 13 points. In third place is Texas, the only team to beat Kansas. But the Longhorns did collect the most first-place votes: 23. No. 4 Pittsburgh was No. 1 on six ballots.

Duke, which was No. 1 the first nine weeks, is No. 5. Completing the top 10 are: San Diego State, BYU, Notre Dame, Georgetown and Wisconsin.

Ohio States first game as No. 2 will be Tuesday night against Michigan State, which may have played the toughest non-conference schedule while facing Texas, Duke, Connecticut and Syracuse.

Michigan State coach Tom Izzo said the top four were tightly bunched because there was no clear-cut No. 1.

Weve seen Kansas a lot on film. Ive talked to Bill Self, Izzo said. Hes not enamored with them yet. Some of that was the Selby kid, but theres a lot of depth on that team. Texas, I told you all along, was the best team we played. Pittsburgh is definitely the toughest team of that four as far as being physically tough. I dont think theres a North Carolina, Kentucky or Kansas of last year. Maybe Ill find out it is Ohio State.

Xavier enters the Top 25, replacing West Virginia.

Purdue is No. 11 followed by Arizona, Connecticut, Florida, Villanova, Louisville, Syracuse, Vanderbilt, North Carolina and Missouri. No. 21 Texas A&M is followed by Kentucky, Temple, Xavier and Utah State.

Since Self became coach in 2003, Kansas has been ranked in the top 10 in 95 AP polls.

Popular Comments

Good to see the Aggies still holding on to the top 25 even after the loss at
Idaho. With a win at Saint Mary's this Saturday the Ags are still in great
shape for a run in the Big Dance. Saturday's game will be fun to watch. Go
State!!!

11:14 a.m. Feb. 14, 2011

Top comment

TexasAg

Humble, TX

Independent,

it was actually Idaho's 2nd win against a ranked team. I
hated the fact that it was against my Aggies but you win some and you lose some.
Rather now than in the conference tourney. Glad to see the Aggies still ranked.

11:54 a.m. Feb. 14, 2011

Top comment

sandydweller

Sandy, UT

The Aggies will be just fine. Sometimes a loss will help spark a team and Stu
is a great coach. Looking forward to 2 teams from Utah in the big dance.